Ovarian Cancer Symptom Consensus Tops 2007 Women's Health News

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 -- Reaching a national consensus on the warning signs of ovarian cancer was the most important story in women's health this year, according to the Society for Women's Health Research, an advocacy organization.

Rounding out the top five were new technological advances in diagnosing and treating breast cancer, increasing evidence of sex differences in cardiovascular disease, a new model for breast cancer risk in African-American women, and the growing problem of obesity in young girls.

In June, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists released a list of symptoms that, if persistent, might be indicative of early-stage ovarian cancer, which has a 90% cure rate if caught in stage I. The symptoms include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and urinary symptoms -- either urgency or frequency -- that persist "almost daily for more than a few weeks." (See: Ovarian Cancer Not as Silent as Believed)

Ovarian cancer is the fifth deadliest cancer in women in the U.S., with more than 15,000 deaths each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Most new cases are not caught until after the disease has metastasized because disease-specific signs and symptoms had not been identified.

Breast cancer news claimed the second and fourth spots on the top-five list. Sharing number two were two technological advances, announced six months apart, that improve diagnosis and treatment of the second deadliest cancer in women.

In February, the FDA approved MammaPrint, an in vitro multivariate index assay that measures 70 gene markers in tumors and calculates the risk of recurrence or metastasis in stage I and II breast cancer. The test is expected to guide treatment decisions. (See: FDA Okays Gene Test to Predict Breast Cancer Recurrence)

The second breast cancer news break, at number four on the list, is the new National Cancer Institute model called CARE that better predicts the risk of breast cancer in African-American women ages 50 to 79 than the older model -- the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool. The previous model was based primarily on data from white women and may have underestimated the risk for African Americans, according to the NCI.

Several studies published this year examined the differences in how cardiovascular disease affects men and women and the gender disparities in treatment, landing this topic at number three on the Society for Women's Health Research list.

One study, published in the Oct. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that three times as many men receive implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death as women. (See: Women Less Likely than Men to Get ICDs)

Another study found that women ages 45 to 54 suffer strokes at more than twice the rate of men of similar age. The authors noted that women tend to receive less preventive and diagnostic cardiovascular care than men. (See: Midlife Strokes More Common Among Women)

High in the nation's consciousness this year, obesity took the final spot on the top-five list, with a focus on the rising rate of obesity in young girls. The Society for Women's Health Research specifically cited a study published in April in Acta Paediatrica.

Swedish researchers found that young girls are more likely to be overweight or obese than young boys. And, they reported, four-year-old girls specifically are more than six times as likely to be obese (BMI over 30 kg/m2) than they were 20 years ago.

The society noted that the rising problem of obesity in childhood merits more attention because of the litany of health problems brought on by extra weight in adulthood.

All five of these stories demonstrate "how important it is that researchers continue to focus on women's health and sex differences," said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W., president and CEO of the Society for Women's Health Research.

Accessibility Statement

At MedPage Today, we are committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities can access all of the content offered by MedPage Today through our website and other properties. If you are having trouble accessing www.medpagetoday.com, MedPageToday's mobile apps, please email legal@ziffdavis.com for assistance. Please put "ADA Inquiry" in the subject line of your email.